Historic Center of Florence UNESCO:

“Seven hundred years of cultural and artistic blooming are tangible today in the 14th-century Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, the Church of Santa Croce, the Palazzo Vecchio, the Uffizi gallery, and the Palazzo Pitti. The city’s history is further evident in the artistic works of great masters such as Giotto, Brunelleschi, Botticelli and Michelangelo.

Built on the site of an Etruscan settlement, Florence, the symbol of the Renaissance, rose to economic and cultural pre-eminence under the Medici in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its 600 years of extraordinary artistic activity can be seen above all in the 13th-century cathedral (Santa Maria del Fiore), the Church of Santa Croce, the Uffizi and the Pitti Palace, the work of great masters such as Giotto, Brunelleschi, Botticelli and Michelangelo.” UNESCO

The three buildings are linked by distinctive vertical and horizontal bands of colored marble decorating the external walls.

The interesting statues in the niches of the Bell Tower represent the patriarchs, prophets, kings of Israel and pagan sybils.

Giotto’s bell tower
1334 – 1359

The basilica is one of Italy’s largest churches, and until the development of new structural materials in the modern era, the dome was the largest in the world. It remains the largest brick dome ever constructed. Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446) presented plans for a wooden and brick model inspired by the Pantheon with a double-walled circular dome. Brunelleschi used more than 4 million bricks
in the construction of the dome.

On the right side of the square: Brunelleschi is still looking up at his magnificent accomplishment.
Statue by Luigi Pampaloni – 1830

Follow this link to see the internal scaffold for the construction of the dome:

Brunelleschi revolutionary engineering design solution involved a double-walled cupola with horizontal reinforcements resting on a drum instead of the roof. Climb to the top for a spectacular view of Florence.

Inside the cupola there are frescoes, created by Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari, who worked on the Duomo from 1572 to 1579. The restoration of these ceiling frescoes began in 1978 and was completed in 1994.

The internal walls of the dome were frescoed between 1572 and 1579 by Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) and Federico Zuccari (c. 1990-1609) who represented a large scene of the “Final Judgement” pictured above.

Here’s a Mosaic on the left door by Nicolò Barabino showing
Florentine artisans, merchants and humanists paying homage to the Faith

Go to the newly renovated Duomo Museum to see the originals that were removed from the structures in Piazza del Duomo, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo.

In the museum, you will see the beautiful reliefs from the Campanile by Giotto and Andrea Pisano.

On the Bell Tower, on each side there are four statues in niches. They have been sculpted in different periods:

The four statues on the west side were sculpted by Andrea Pisano and date from 1343. These Gothic statues are rather high-reliefs, left unfinished at the back. They represent the Tiburtine Sibyl, David, Solomon and the Erythraean Sibyl.

The four Prophets on the south side are already more classical in style and date between 1334 and 1341. The statue of Moses and the fourth statue are attributed to Maso di Banco.

The four Prophets and Patriarchs on the east side date from between 1408 and 1421: the beardless Prophets by Donatello (probably a portrait of his friend, the architect Filippo Brunelleschi), the Bearded Prophet (perhaps by Nanni di Bartolo), Abraham and Isaac (by Donatello and Nanni di Bartolo) and Il Pensatore (the thinker) (by Donatello).

The four statues on the north side were added between 1420 and 1435: Prophet (probably by Nanni di Bartolo, however signed by Donatello), Habacuc (a masterpiece of Donatello, a tormented and emaciated prophet, portraying Giovanni Chiericini, an enemy of the Medicis), Jeremias (by Donatello, portraying Francesco Soderini, another enemy of the Medicis), Abdias (by Nanni di Bartolo).

The statues in the niches represent the patriarchs, prophets and kings of Israel, and pagan sybils.

At the base of the Campanile there is a remarkable set of 54 reliefs –26 hexagonal and 28 rhomboid. T

Look for the hexagonal and rhomboid panels and reliefs on the Bell Tower; they are amazing!

All the present works of art in the campanile are copies. The originals were removed between 1965 and 1967 and are now on display in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, behind the cathedral.

The hexagonal panels on the east side. From left to right: Agriculture, Art of Festivals and Architecture.

Pictured below, you can see a Relief on the Campanile representing Medicine, depicting the practice of uroscopy.

The hexagonal panels on the lower level depict the history of mankind, inspired by Genesis, starting the west side. The reliefs are by

Luca della Robbia, Giotto, and Nino and Andrea Pisano.

.

The reliefs in the lower row of the campanile, depict the creation of man and woman, the beginnings of human work, and the (inventors (according to the Bible) of various creative activities: sheep-herding, music, metallurgy, wine-making. In the upper register are the seven planets, beginning with Jupiter at the north corner.

On the other facades, astrology, building, medicine, weaving and other technical and scientific endeavors. In the upper registers are: on the south, the theological and cardinal virtues; on the east, the liberal arts of the Trivium and Quadrivium; to the north, the seven sacraments.

‘Medici’ Will Return For Season 3 To Fulfill All Your Italian Renaissance and Firenze history concerns.

The first season, titled Medici: Masters of Florence, takes place in 1429, the year Giovanni de’ Medici, head of the family, died. Season 3 will show us what happens after the Pazzi Conspiracy in the Basilica di Santa Maria di Medici.

The family tree of The House of Medici

The Renaissance Papacy was dominated by 3 families: the Borgias, the Roveres, and the Medicis. This video discusses the family tree of each and their role in the Italian Renaissance.

For more information on Florence, read Vino con vista Travel Guides available on Amazon.com.

Nightview of Shanghai, shot from rooftop of Jin Mao Tower. Bottled wine import in China has dropped by over a quarter in both volume and value during January to April 2020 The post China: Wine imports drop but trade points to green shoots appeared first on Decanter.

Château Haut-Brion was among the very first properties in the region to introduce stainless steel vats for winemaking. Their histories, personalities and strengths... The post Bordeaux: The five first growths appeared first on Decanter.

Château Cos d'Estournel. The St-Estèphe second growth has become the latest big name to lower its release price early in the Bordeaux 2019 en primeur campaign. The post Château Cos d'Estournel 2019 released en primeur appeared first on Decanter.

The property includes five aflaj irrigation systems and is representative of some 3,000 such systems still in use in Oman. The origins of this system of irrigation may date back to AD 500, but archaeological evidence suggests that irrigation systems existed in this extremely arid area as early as 2500 BC. Using gravity, water is channelled from underground s […]

The nine Sacri Monti (Sacred Mountains) of northern Italy are groups of chapels and other architectural features created in the late 16th and 17th centuries and dedicated to different aspects of the Christian faith. In addition to their symbolic spiritual meaning, they are of great beauty by virtue of the skill with which they have been integrated into the s […]

The monumental complex at Caserta, created by the Bourbon king Charles III in the mid-18th century to rival Versailles and the Royal Palace in Madrid, is exceptional for the way in which it brings together a magnificent palace with its park and gardens, as well as natural woodland, hunting lodges and a silk factory. It is an eloquent expression of the Enligh […]

Construction of this palatine chapel, with its octagonal basilica and cupola, began c. 790–800 under the Emperor Charlemagne. Originally inspired by the churches of the Eastern part of the Holy Roman Empire, it was splendidly enlarged in the Middle Ages.

In the district of Port Louis, lies the 1,640 m2 site where the modern indentured labour diaspora began. In 1834, the British Government selected the island of Mauritius to be the first site for what it called ‘the great experiment’ in the use of ‘free’ labour to replace slaves. Between 1834 and 1920, almost half a million indentured […]

Located inside the Arctic Circle in the central part of West Greenland, the property contains the remains of 4,200 years of human history. It is a cultural landscape which bears witness to its creators&apos; hunting of land and sea animals, seasonal migrations and a rich and well-preserved tangible and intangible cultural heritage linked to climate, navi […]

The abbey, together with its monumental entrance, the famous &apos;Torhall&apos;, are rare architectural vestiges of the Carolingian era. The sculptures and paintings from this period are still in remarkably good condition.

The Convent of St Gall, a perfect example of a great Carolingian monastery, was, from the 8th century to its secularization in 1805, one of the most important in Europe. Its library is one of the richest and oldest in the world and contains precious manuscripts such as the earliest-known architectural plan drawn on parchment. From 1755 to 1768, the conventua […]

The church, baptistry, basilicas, public buildings, streets, monasteries, houses and workshops in this early Christian holy city were built over the tomb of the martyr Menas of Alexandria, who died in A.D. 296.

Instagram

The property includes five aflaj irrigation systems and is representative of some 3,000 such systems still in use in Oman. The origins of this system of irrigation may date back to AD 500, but archaeological evidence suggests that irrigation systems existed in this extremely arid area as early as 2500 BC. Using gravity, water is channelled from underground s […]

The nine Sacri Monti (Sacred Mountains) of northern Italy are groups of chapels and other architectural features created in the late 16th and 17th centuries and dedicated to different aspects of the Christian faith. In addition to their symbolic spiritual meaning, they are of great beauty by virtue of the skill with which they have been integrated into the s […]

The monumental complex at Caserta, created by the Bourbon king Charles III in the mid-18th century to rival Versailles and the Royal Palace in Madrid, is exceptional for the way in which it brings together a magnificent palace with its park and gardens, as well as natural woodland, hunting lodges and a silk factory. It is an eloquent expression of the Enligh […]

Construction of this palatine chapel, with its octagonal basilica and cupola, began c. 790–800 under the Emperor Charlemagne. Originally inspired by the churches of the Eastern part of the Holy Roman Empire, it was splendidly enlarged in the Middle Ages.

In the district of Port Louis, lies the 1,640 m2 site where the modern indentured labour diaspora began. In 1834, the British Government selected the island of Mauritius to be the first site for what it called ‘the great experiment’ in the use of ‘free’ labour to replace slaves. Between 1834 and 1920, almost half a million indentured […]